Her heart skipped a beat as she lowered her arm to find the Egyptians with their spears to her throat. She glanced over at Mr. Daley, who stood calmly, despite the situation. Looking over at her, he noticed that she was shaking slightly and stepped in front of her. He moved her behind his back protectively and Valarie clutched the fabric on his upper arm as the head of the group approached them, speaking in his native tongue. They both remained silent.
"Parlez-vous? Parlez-vous français?" he pressed, this time in French. Though she did not speak the language, she had a friend who had tried to teach her once and recognized the phrase. She shook her head in reply.
"English?" he tried once more, "English, perhaps?"
"I'm sorry," Mr. Daley interrupted, "Who are you?"
The man before them smiled at the invitation to introduce himself, raising his voice and moving his arms in large, sweeping gestures. "I am Kahmunrah, the great king of kings," he announced with crisp, sharp consonants for a dramatic effect, "And from the dark depths of ancient history, I have come back to life!"
Valarie and Mr. Daley both stood there, silent, while the pharaoh looked at them expectantly. A moment later, he lowered his arms and pursed his lip as he spoke again. "Perhaps you did not hear what I said," he said, matter-of-factly, "I am a centuries-old Egyptian Pharaoh. I was dead but now I have come back to life!"
He ended with the same theatrical, sweeping gesture. From his reaction, he did not receive the response he had been expecting. Had Mr. Daley not warned her of this, and had Kahmunrah not had a slightly distracting lisp, Valarie might have reacted more accordingly, but she remained relatively calm, aside from shying away from the spears.
"Yeah, no, I got that. I heard that," Mr. Daley waved, "Welcome back."
Disappointed and frustrated, Kahmunrah asked, "Who are you?"
"Larry Daley; Daley Devices. It's up in New York," he replied, brushing away the title, "It's funny. I know your brother, Ahkmenrah."
"Do you?"
"Yeah."
"He knows baby brother," Kahmunrah smiled to his men before adding, "The favorite son."
Valarie could pick up on the resentment in the pharaoh's voice, but Mr. Daley was apparently oblivious. "Yeah," he nodded, "Good kid."
"Isn't he just?" the pharaoh agreed sarcastically, "You know, Mother and Father always gave him the best of everything, and I do mean everything. They even gave him the throne. The throne that was rightfully mine!"
"He never mentioned that," Mr. Daley muttered sheepishly.
"I'll just bet he didn't," Kahmunrah replied with a half-hearted smirk, "Well, now begins the era of Kahmunrah, because I have come back to..." He shook his head and lowered his arms when he realized he was about to repeat himself once more. He sighed, holding out his hand, "Nevermind. Just hand me the tablet."
"Don't give it to him, Gigantor!" a voice called from behind them and Valarie looked back to the trailer.
"Keep him away!"
Kahmunrah sighed again at the voices, walking over to the trailer and banging on the side. "Silence! Silence in there, please," he said, "Don't make me come in there."
"No!" the voice spat back, "I will not be muzzled!"
"Look," Kahmunrah sighed once more, circling the two, "That tablet is more powerful than you, Larry Daley of Daley Devices, can possibly imagine. Bringing things to life is just a parlor trick. With it, I shall unlock the Gate to the Underworld and bring forth my army from the Land of the Dead. So, if it's not too much trouble, hand it over."
"Okay, here you go," Mr. Daley said nonchalantly as he handed over the tablet.
"What?" Valarie grabbed his sleeve tighter.
He glanced over his shoulder and she gave him a concerned look. He placed a hand on her own to reassure her as the pharaoh noted, "Wise decision."
"Yeah, I know," Mr. Daley agreed, turning back to Kahmunrah. At the same time, he moved her hand down and wrapped his hand around her hers, pulling her out next to him, "I'm sorry. I thought you wanted the Cube, but..."
Having laid out the bait, Mr. Daley went to walk away with Valarie at his side, but Kahmunrah signaled his men to stop them. "The Cube?" he inquired, curious.
"The Cube of Rubik," he elaborated. Valarie whipped her head around at the name and looked at him like he was insane.
"Alright," Kahmunrah smirked, allowing himself to be led on, "What is this Cube of Ru-Bik, then?"
"The Cube. You know, the one that turns all who oppose you to dust? That one?" he continued, looking at the Egyptians expectantly, as if it were common knowledge. He held up his hands in defeat, "Whatever. I thought... It was my bad cause... You know what, by the way, your brother didn't want to mess with it either. Yeah, he wanted to play it safe too. Just, you sort of struck me as a next-level sort of guy, so I was..."
At that, Kahmunrah lost his common sense to his pride. As he went to leave, the pharaoh stopped Mr. Daley by signaling his men to grab Valarie, who gasped in surprise. "I am not my brother, Larry," he boasted, "I will kill you and your friends in the blink of an eye. Now, take me to this Cube of Rubik."
He smiled in victory but Kahmunrah seemed not to notice or care as Mr. Daley turned a heel, heading down the corridor of crates they had originally come down. The man who had grabbed Valarie tightened his grip on her arm and forced her forward roughly, keeping pace with the pharaoh. She kept her head low, trying to calm herself. She knew he had a plan but being separated from Mr. Daley was disconcerting. Besides that, Kahmunrah was casting his powerful stare in her direction, which made her stomach churn anxiously.
After only a few minutes, Mr. Daley stopped in front of a large box at a turn in the corridor. Valarie knew for a fact that this box did not contain a Rubik's Cube, yet he announced, "Here it is."
"Open it," Kahmunrah commanded.
Mr. Daley nodded, more as a hint to Valarie than a complacent gesture. He went to open the crate and, after a moment of forcing it open, the side popped off and long, purple tentacles went flying everywhere. Reacting quickly, she ducked as one tendril knocked over the guard and scooped up the pharaoh.
"Valarie, grab the tablet!" Mr. Daley called as he raced towards her. Kahmunrah, who was still suspended in the air, dropped the gold tablet, which landed in front of her with a clatter. She reached out and grabbed it while getting to her feet and Mr. Daley grabbed her by the wrist, using his momentum to bring Valarie up to speed. The two raced off as the pharaoh shouted after them.
"Come back here! Come back here with my tablet! I still have your friends!"
That last part caused him to momentarily reconsider but Mr. Daley seemed to decide against it and pressed on. Valarie, who was more of a sprinter herself, started to lose speed after a few minutes and was mostly being dragged along, barely keeping pace. She was watching her feet when he stopped abruptly and she ran into his back, jamming her wrist into his side before stumbling forward. He reached out and stabilized her as she cursed aloud, looking up to see why they had stopped. Sitting before them was a side-car motorcycle driven by a man in a blue military uniform.
"Take the wheel!" he shouted.
"What?" Mr. Daley said, confused.
"I said, 'Take the wheel'!" he repeated, picking up the flag and getting off of the motorcycle. He made his way around to the side car while Mr. Daley walked up and slipped into the driver seat while Valarie sat down behind him. The soldier beamed excitedly as he stepped in the side, "Oh, we're in it now! I love it, I love it!"
"Do you know how to drive one of these?" she asked uncertainly as she wrapped her free arm around his waist.
"Nope," he answered simply before revving up the machine and starting down the corridor.
"Oh!" she shouted in surprise. It had taken off more abruptly than she expected and she grabbed his waist tighter. Glancing over her shoulder, Valarie saw the Egyptians who had been following them left behind but when she turned back, a group had appeared in front of them with their spears at the ready. She shut her eyes while the soldier encouraged him onward.
"Just keep her straight," he insisted, "I'll handle the rest."
She pressed herself against Mr. Daley and peeked to her left. He eyes widened when she noticed a variety of animals, including kangaroos and a wildcat skeleton, running alongside them.
"Okay, so what's the plan here?" he asked and the soldier laughed.
"We're Americans!" he chuckled, "We don't plan, we do! Now, hold on."
Valarie heard clattering and the sound of men grunting. She saw the blur of an arm pass in front of her face and looked over her shoulder to see that they had blown through Kahmunrah's men. "See that!" the soldier shouted victoriously, winking at Valarie, "Act first, think later! Works every time."
He seemed to notice the shock on her face and added, "You're in good hands, Miss. General George A. Custer of the Fighting U.S. 7th Calvary at your service."
Distracted, General Custer didn't notice a low shelf hanging overhead. He was thrown off the bike before Valarie realized what had happened. She turned and Mr. Daley went to stop but he waved and shouted after the two, "I'm good! I'm good! Fly, you fool!"
"No, wait," she shook her head, "He saved us. We've got to go back for him."
"It's okay," he assured her while reassuring himself, "They won't hurt him as long as we have the tablet. Besides, we can patch up a wax figurine but we can't patch you."
Valarie bit her lip but didn't argue, letting the engine drown out her thoughts. The two continued down the path and rounded a corner where they were stopped by a woman blocking their way. The motorcycle skidded to a stop and she looked up at the woman, who was wearing a russet leather jacket, tight khaki pants and brown boots. She had her hands on her hips as she examined them, her bright blue eyes sparkling while her short, curly strawberry blonde hair spilled out from under her matching brown cap, the way that Valarie's fell naturally. "What's the rumpus, Ace?" she inquired with a huge grin.
"Look, lady, could you get out of the way?" Mr. Daley asked impatiently.
"Lady?" the woman repeated, seemingly insulted, "Who are you calling lady? The name is Amelia. Amelia Earhart! Perhaps you've heard of me?"
"Oh, right," Mr. Daley answered without bothering to seem interested, "You're a famous pilot or whatever. Valarie sat up straight and leaned over to look up at him, shaking her head. He apparently didn't pick up on vocal tones very well.
They suddenly heard shouting from behind them and a spear came flying their way, landing just short of it mark and slashing the back tire. Mr. Daley scowled down at the back wheel and the two hopped off the motorcycle.
"Come on," he told Valarie, placing a hand on her shoulder as he started around the corner. Amelia followed the two in their attempt to lose the Egyptians, listing off all the things she had accomplished in her lifetime while they ran.
"Now, if you'd wipe that perhaps permanent look of alarm off your kisser, I was wondering if you might be so kind as to tell me where I am," she concluded as Larry looked about anxiously. He pushed Valarie behind a nearby crate before he slid in next to her. When he noticed that Amelia was still standing out in the open, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her next to them.
"You're in a museum," he explained as he looked around the corner, watching the men pass them by, "Or, actually, under it. And we're in kind of a dangerous situation right now, so you might not want to be anywhere near us."
He grabbed Valarie's wrist and they continued running but Amelia kept pace with them. "Wow, you're fast," she noted, "What's your name, flyboy?"
"My name is Larry Daley," he answered, slowing down as they reached a turn in the corridor, "And this is Valarie."
He noticed rustling behind them and pushed the two behind a large trailer just as a group of Egyptians came around the corner. "Well, Larry Daley," Amelia said while stepping out from behind the trailer with her hands on her hips, "In case you weren't listening, I'm not one to shy away from danger."
Having given away their position, the Egyptians hurtled a slew of spears in her direction. Though Amelia made no move to dodge them, nor did she even flinch, they all missed her. Mr. Daley and Valarie looked at her like she was crazy; she had to be the luckiest person they had ever met. "How about spears?" Mr. Daley scoffed, thinking maybe she hadn't noticed them, "Are you one to shy away from spears?"
"Let's ankle, skipper!" she smiled broadly, grabbing his arm and pulling him out of the shadows. He snatched Valarie's sleeve and tugged along while she held on to the tablet. Amelia let go as they began to follow and tugged her cap off her head, adding, "Now we're going to have some fun."
